


Secrets

by keyrousse



Category: The Unusuals
Genre: Angst, Brain tumor, Don’t copy to another site, Gen, Suicide, suicide is mentioned in a one sentence in a non-graphic way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 18:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18287693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyrousse/pseuds/keyrousse
Summary: Walsh is good at keeping his secrets. Eric trusts him with his own.





	Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> The show ended with the news of Eric's brain tumor. So what Eric did with it?  
> Imported from ff.net, written in 2012, not beta-read, tweaked a little here, surprisingly angsty (at least by my standards), I'm sure I cried while writing this.

Walsh was wiping the counter and still smiling after Allison's visit, when he heard the door opening. He looked up.

"Delahoy, hi," he greeted. Eric nodded and shook Walsh's hand. He sat heavily by the counter, not looking at Jason.

"Coffee?" asked Walsh politely. Eric nodded again. "I heard you are on a leave. Holidays?"

"Yeah, k-kind of," Delahoy finally replied.

If Walsh noticed the stutter, he pretended he didn't. Walsh grabbed two mugs and poured some coffee. He put one of the mugs in front of Eric and sipped from the one in his hand.

"So, what brings you here?" asked Jason. "You don't really visit unless someone tries to shoot me."

"Apolo has better f-food," Eric replied with a smile, leaving out the second part of the sentence: 'Not that I actually can taste it anymore.'

"So I'm told. Repeatedly."

Delahoy smiled again and focused on his coffee. Undoubtedly bad, since Walsh's inability to cook was a common knowledge among people who ever tried to eat anything in this diner, but it didn't matter.

He sat in silence, feeling Walsh's gaze on him.

"You getting b-better?" he asked finally.

Walsh nodded.

"Two more weeks and I'm back on track," he replied, rubbing his hands. "I don't know why so long, but Allison and Case threatened they will skin me if I show up at the precinct even one day before I'm officially cleared for duty." He sighed. "I like my skin," he added, still regarding Eric closely.

"Even if it has m-more h-holes than before," Delahoy said. He was aware Walsh must have noticed the stutter; he was glad Jason hadn't mentioned it. Yet.

"Hey, I'm healing, okay?" Walsh protested with a smile.

"Good for you. We miss you there."

Walsh only smiled. He missed them too. He felt good among these people, despite something being really weird or just special about all of them. He was happy they trusted him to the point of making him their unofficial leader or coming to him to ask for help, as they knew he would assist them and ask for nothing in return. He knew he found his place after years of looking. Usually, no-one liked when even the best detectives were clearly hiding something. Not that he had a particularly dark past, he just didn't enjoy talking about himself and he loved it when people tried to guess his secrets.

He also knew something was seriously wrong with Delahoy. Always somewhat laid-back and taking usually the more weird or funny cases, he had been acting strangely for the last few months, not to mention really obvious stutter that must have appeared recently. He also was familiar with That Look – when someone was gathering strength to say something unpleasant, sad or shocking about themselves.

Walsh started to prepare himself emotionally.

"You know..." Eric said after a while. "I don't really know you."

"I made sure of that," Walsh replied lightly.

"I know you're a good man, g-good detective and all... You just keep everything s-secret."

Walsh realized how much work it required from Eric to not stutter at the beginning of every word. It was bad.

"So you're good at keeping secrets. Just your own or somebody else's as w-well?" Eric asked, finally looking up at Walsh.

Jason hated the barely contained panic in his eyes.

"Secrets make people," Walsh replied calmly. "I respect that."

"So, c-can you promise you'll keep the secret I'm about to t-tell you now?"

"I promise," Walsh declared.

Eric reached into his briefcase and took out a large, brown envelope, which contained something that looked like multiple X-rays on one film. He handed it to Walsh, who took it and tried to see something.

"What am I supposed to see here?" he asked.

"My b-brain tumor."

Walsh felt like he needed to sit down.

"God, Eric," he sighed, circled the counter and sat heavily beside Delahoy.

"One d-day I hit my head, got an X-ray, an hour l-later I'm told I have few months to live. It was thirteen m-months ago."

"What doctors say about this?"

"Nothing," Eric replied with a shrug. Walsh looked at him with sharp eyes.

"You mean you didn't go to the doctor. You didn't try to do anything about it."

"I don't want t-to be t-tied to a bed, p-paralyzed and drooling..."

"You mean you didn't even try to fight," Walsh cut him off, suddenly angry. "You were told you have a brain tumor that's apparently eating you away and you just left it like that."

"I wouldn't let anyone r-rummage through my head..."

"So you decided to give up and die without even trying to get some treatment!" Walsh shouted.

Eric was shocked. Walsh never shouted.

"Christ, Eric! I..."

Walsh stood up and started pacing, unable to find words. Eric watched him limping slightly, breathing heavily, still in some pain.

Walsh calmed down after two minutes. He stood by the wall, leaning on it with his arms folded. He looked at Eric.

"What do you expect from me?" he asked.

Eric was speechless.

"You want me to explain what happened when you finally don't show up at work?"

"I won't show up at w-work anyway," Eric murmured.

"So it's over," Walsh said. He was still angry. Or rather frustrated. "You really gave up. What are you going to do?"

"I won't die in a hospital, that's for s-sure. I was t-told it's too late to get any t-treatment."

"God, Eric."

Walsh slid down the wall and sat on the floor with his head in his arms.

"I couldn't t-tell Leo. He's was r-really shaken with his own problems."

"Leo doesn't know his working partner and best friend is dying," Walsh said with his head still bent. "He expected to die any minute for a year and now he's gonna learn that you were slowly dying all this time."

"T-that's why I didn't t-tell him."

"What else is wrong, Eric? Besides your stutter?" asked Walsh, looking up at him.

"I l-lost my sense of taste. Can b-barely hear on one ear. Have hallucinations."

"You're lucky you're still walking."

"Basically."

"And you're not gonna wait until you lose that ability as well," Walsh added.

Eric didn't reply. Didn't need to.

"I should stop you," said Jason.

"You c-can't."

Jason nodded. He slowly rose, came closer to Eric and hugged him.

It took a few seconds for Eric to return the gesture, mindful of Jason's healing gunshot wounds.

He felt something wet on the back of his shirt, but didn't react. Walsh sniffed.

"You and Leo were the only people that tried to make my first day at the Second bearable, with Kowalski being an asshole and everyone else trying to bully me," Walsh whispered, still holding him tight. "You goddamn idiot. I hate you so much for this."

"You did well, you d-didn't need my help then," Eric replied with a smile.

"Because that's what I do, Eric. I don't care when someone's trying to get to me. It doesn't change the fact you're a friend, a good guy and a fine cop and this is probably the last time I see you."

Walsh pulled away.

"Don't try to lie to me," he added, his eyes wet. "This is a goodbye. You finally had to tell someone and you chose me."

"D-don't tell anyone until you hear..."

Eric didn't need to finish. Walsh nodded. Eric just stood up and left.

Walsh was wiping his tears away when Casey entered the diner.

"Hey Walsh, what's up?" she asked cheerfully, but became serious when she saw he was crying.

"Nothing," he replied.

* * *

He shot himself in the head. His body was found in his flat a week after his last conversation with Jason.

* * *

So Jason wasn't burdened with Delahoy's secret for too long. He wasn't grateful for that.

* * *

Walsh didn't need to explain anything. The autopsy revealed the brain tumor. In conclusions the pathologist expressed her surprise that Eric Delahoy was even able to hold the gun.

* * *

Walsh decided he hated secrets. At least some of them. At Eric's funeral reception he shared some stories from the times he started to work at the Second Precinct. Funny, warm stories about Delahoy. He even mentioned his short career as a professional baseball player. Both Casey and Allison admitted Walsh had never talked this much before.

"Just this one time," he replied with a smile. "No secrets today, because Delahoy kept his condition a secret and he shouldn't have. He died alone, being one of the most popular people in this precinct and that's unfair."

They hung his badge on the wall.


End file.
